Twin Layer Packaging Machine

ABSTRACT

A packaging machine is disclosed for packing cartons with beverage cans in two overlying layers. The packaging machine has a selector flight, a can flight, and a carton flight, all synchronously movable. A single infeed assembly directs first groups of cans into selector bays on the selector flight, sweeps them into adjacent can bays, and directs second groups of cans into the same selector bays, all on the same level. The selector flight and the second groups of cans then ramps up to an elevated level, from where the second groups of cans are swept into the adjacent can bays atop the first groups of cans. The thus staged cans are pushed into open cartons on the carton flight.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No.12/487,261, filed Jun. 18, 2009, which claims the benefit of U.S.Provisional Application No. 61/073,854, filed Jun. 19, 2008.

INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE

The entire contents of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/487,261,filed Jun. 18, 2009, and U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/073,854,filed on Jun. 19, 2008, are hereby incorporated by reference as ifpresented herein in their entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This disclosure relates generally to packaging machines and moreparticularly to twin layer packaging machines for packing into a cartontwo layers of upright articles such as beverage cans, one layeroverlying the other.

BACKGROUND

When packaging articles such as soft drink and beer cans into cartons,it sometimes is desirable to group the articles in two layers within thecarton, with an upper layer of upright articles overlying a lower layerof upright articles. It is common to separate the layers with apaperboard divider pad on which the upper layer rests. Such a packagingconfiguration is sometimes referred to as “twin layer packaging.”Packaging machines for obtaining twin layer packaging of articles areknown, one such machine being exemplified in U.S. Pat. No. 5,758,474 ofZiegler, which is commonly owned by the assignee of the presentapplication. Such packaging machines generally comprise an infeedassembly that progressively directs articles in groups into the bays ofa synchronously moving conveyor flight. The infeed assembly includes anupstream infeed belt and associated infeed lanes for directing thebottom layer of articles into the bays. A separate downstream infeedbelt and associated infeed lanes, which are disposed at an elevatedlevel relative to the upstream infeed belt and lanes, progressivelydirects the top layer of articles into the bays atop the already loadedbottom layer of articles. The articles thus are staged in two overlyinglayers in the bays and subsequently are pushed with a pusher assemblyinto an open carton on an adjacent and synchronized carton flight. Thecartons are then closed to complete the packaging process. The use ofseparate infeed assemblies, one for the bottom layer of articles and onefor the top, increases the complexity of these packaging machines andtakes up valuable additional space within them.

A need exists for an improved packaging machine for obtaining twin layerpackaging of articles such as beverage cans and it is to the provisionof such a packaging machine that the present invention is primarilydirected.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a portion of a packaging machine thatembodies principles of the invention in one preferred form.

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the packaging machine illustrated in FIG.1.

FIG. 3 is a side elevation of the packaging machine illustrated in FIGS.1 and 2.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring to the drawing figures, FIG. 1 is a perspective illustrationof a twin layer packaging machine according to the present disclosure.Some elements are omitted and/or only partially illustrated in FIG. 1 inthe interest of clarity. The twin layer packaging machine 11 comprises aframe 12 configured to support the various functioning components of themachine. An infeed section 13 is mounted to the frame at an upstream endof the machine and comprises a single infeed belt 17 that is driven by amotor and drive train 20 so that the infeed belt 17 moves in thedirection of the arrow in FIG. 1. An article guide assembly 18 issuspended just above the surface of the infeed belt 17 and generallyincludes a plurality of spaced guide rails 19 that define betweenthemselves a corresponding plurality of infeed lanes 21. The guide rails19 are spaced such that the infeed lanes 21 are slightly wider thanarticles, commonly beverage containers, that are to be packaged. Theinfeed lanes are arranged into a group of interior lanes 22 and a groupof exterior lanes 23. In the illustrated embodiment, there are sixinfeed lanes in each group; however, the machine may be selectivelyconfigured with more or fewer than six lanes in each group dependingupon the number of articles to be packaged in a single carton. Asdiscussed in more detail below, the interior lanes accommodate articlesthat are to be packaged on the bottom layer of the twin layer packagewhile the exterior lanes accommodate articles that are to be packaged inthe top layer overlying the bottom layer. The interior and exteriorlanes are all part of the same infeed assembly, all make use of a singleinfeed belt, and all are on a single level.

A continuous conveyor referred to as a selector flight 14 is disposedadjacent to the infeed section and extends further downstream therefrom.In general, the selector flight comprises a selector bed 31 made up of aplurality of side-by-side mutually articulated selector plates that moveto the left in FIG. 1 along a pair of selector bed rails 32. Theselector bed is driven by flight chains that extend around appropriatesprockets 34 and are driven by a drive train, generally indicated at 47.Selector wedges 33 are mounted to the selector bed and define betweenthemselves a plurality of selector bays 35 sized to accommodate agrouping of articles to be packaged. Various sizes of selector wedgesmay be mounted to the selector bed as needed to define selector bayssized to accommodate a desired number of articles such as, for example,a three wide by six deep array of beverage cans. Significantly, theselector flight 14 is formed with a ramped section 36 just downstream ofthe infeed section 13. The ramped section 36 progressively elevates theselector bed as it moves, and thus elevates articles grouped in theselector bays, from a lower level adjacent the infeed section 13 to araised upper level downstream of the infeed section.

As detailed below, from the lower level of the selector bed, groups ofarticles are pushed by a lower fixed pusher rail 46 (FIG. 2) from theselector bays into adjacent can or article bays where they are thusstaged to become the bottom layer of articles in a carton. A paperboarddivider pad is then placed atop the bottom layer. Then, from the upperlevel of the selector bed, groups of articles are pushed or swept by afixed pusher rail 47 from the now raised selector bays into adjacent canbays atop the already loaded bottom layer and divider pad, where theyare thus staged to become the top layer of articles in a carton. Thevertical position of the upper level relative to the lower level isadjustable to accommodate the height of the articles, such as beveragecans, to be packaged. With the articles staged in two overlying layerswithin the can bays, they can then be moved into open cartons 51 on anadjacent synchronous carton flight 15 (see FIG. 2).

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the twin layer packaging machine of thisdisclosure illustrating its operation from a different and perhaps moreinstructive perspective. Articles such as beverage cans are conveyed enmasse to the upstream end of the infeed belt 17 on the extreme left inFIG. 2. From there, the cans are directed into the infeed lanes 21 ofthe product guide assembly 18, where, because of the widths of theinfeed lanes, they assume, in each lane, a single file configuration.Cans are directed into both the interior group of lanes 22 and theexterior group of lanes 23. Movement of the infeed belt 17 advances thecans along their respective infeed lanes toward the adjacent andsynchronously moving selector bays 31. As a consequence, cans from theinterior group of lanes fill the selector bays 31 to the left of thefixed pusher rail 46. Continued movement of the selector bed to theright causes these cans to be swept by the pusher rail 46 out of theirselector bays and into adjacent synchronously moving can bays 42disposed along the can flight 16. These groups of cans are then stagedin the can bays to become the bottom layer of cans in a carton and,subsequently, a divider pad, which may be made of paperboard, can beplaced atop these cans.

As the first groups of cans are swept progressively out of the selectorbays and into can bays by fixed pusher rail 46, the emptying selectorbays are progressively refilled, each with another or second group ofcans, from the exterior group of lanes 23. After being thus refilled,these second groups of cans are conveyed along the selector flight upthe ramped section 36 thereof to an elevated position that has beenpre-set to be just above the bottom layer of cans and divider pads inthe adjacent and synchronously moving can bays 42. Once at this elevatedlevel, the second groups of cans in the selector bays encounter theupper fixed pusher rail 47, which progressively sweeps the groups ofcans out of the selector bays and into the adjacent synchronous can bayson top of the bottom layer of cans and divider pad already in the canbays. As a result, the can bays become loaded with a bottom group orlayer of cans and a top group or layer of cans separated by a dividerpad. The cans are thus staged in the can bays for packaging into cartonsin this twin layer configuration. Further downstream, then, pusher rods49 push the staged twin layered cans from the can bays 42 into opencartons 51 on the adjacent and synchronously moving carton flight 15 inthe traditional manner. The cartons then proceed to downstream portionsof the packaging machine, where they are closed and sealed and furtherprepared for distribution.

The just described twin layer packaging machine and methodologyrepresent a distinct improvement over prior art twin layer packagingmachines. For instance, both lower and upper layers of articles such asbeverage cans are loaded onto the selector flight and into selector bayswith a single relatively short infeed section consisting of a singleinfeed belt and a single array of infeed lanes, all disposed at a singlelevel in the machine. This contrasts with prior art machines, whichcommonly employ two infeed sections, one for the lower layer of cans andanother downstream from and raised relative to the first for the upperlayer of cans. This duplication renders the old machines more complex,more expensive to construct and maintain, and more prone to jams andbreakdown. Further, the elimination of a second infeed section for theupper layer of cans frees up significant space within the packagingmachine, making changeover for different packaging configurations andmaintenance significantly simpler and less complicated.

This disclosure has included certain preferred embodiments thatrepresent the best mode known to the inventor of carrying out theinvention encompassed herein. However, the invention is not limited,circumscribed, or defined solely by the embodiments disclosed herein,but instead is defined and encompassed only by the claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A twin layer packaging machine having an upstreamend and a downstream end and comprising: a selector flight continuouslymovable toward the downstream end of the packaging machine and defininga plurality of selector bays; a can flight adjacent to the selectorflight and movable synchronously therewith toward the downstream end ofthe packing machine, the can flight defining a plurality of can bays; acarton flight adjacent to the can flight and movably synchronouslytherewith toward the downstream end of the packaging machine, the cartonflight for carrying a plurality of cartons to be packed; an infeedsection at an upstream end of the packaging machine for loading theselector bays with groups of articles to be packaged, the infeed sectionhaving an infeed belt, a first group of infeed lanes and an associatedfirst pusher rail for loading selector bays with the first groups ofarticles and sweeping the loaded first groups of articles into adjacentcan bays, and a second group of infeed lanes on the same level as thefirst group of infeed lanes for loading selector bays with second groupsof articles; said selector flight including a ramped section downstreamof the second group of infeed lanes that carries the second groups ofarticles to an elevated level; a second pusher rail at the elevatedlevel for sweeping second groups of articles into adjacent can bays atopthe first groups of articles therein; and a mechanism for moving thefirst and second groups of articles from the can bays into cartons.
 2. Amethod of packing a carton with a twin layer of articles, one layeroverlying the other, the method comprising the steps of: (a) loadingselector bays with first groups of articles; (b) moving the first groupsof articles into adjacent can bays; (c) loading the selector bays withsecond groups of articles at substantially the same level as the firstgroups of articles; (d) raising the selector bays and second groups ofarticles to a second level elevated relative to the same level; (e)moving the second groups of articles into adjacent can bays atop thefirst groups of articles therein to form a twin layer configuration; and(f) moving the twin layer configuration of articles from the can baysinto cartons.
 3. A twin layer packaging machine substantially as shownand described.
 4. A method of packing a carton with a twin layer ofarticles substantially as shown and described.
 5. A twin layer packagingmachine wherein a lower layer of articles and an upper layer of articlesare loaded onto a selector bed at the same vertical level.
 6. An infeedassembly for a twin layer packaging machine substantially as shown anddescribed.
 7. A method of loading articles into cartons in a stackedconfiguration with a first group of articles disposed beneath a secondgroup of articles, the method comprising the steps of: (a) feeding thefirst group of articles into a moving selector bay; (b) moving the firstgroup of articles from the selector bay into an adjacent moving can bay;(c) feeding the second group of articles into the selector bay; (d)moving the selector bay and the can bay with respect to each other sothat the selector bay is at an elevated position relative to the canbay; (e) moving the second group of articles from the elevated selectorbay into the can bay atop the first group of articles; and (f) movingthe first and second groups of articles from the can bay into anadjacent carton.
 8. The method of claim 7 and wherein step (d) compriseselevating the selector bay.
 9. The method of claim 8 and wherein theselector bay is defined on a moving selector flight and the step ofelevating the selector bay comprises ramping the moving selector flightup a ramped section.
 10. The method of claim 7 and wherein step (a)comprises moving the first group of articles along infeed lanesprogressively toward and into the selector bay.
 11. The method of claim10 and wherein step (c) comprises moving the second group of articlesalong infeed lanes progressively toward and into the selector bay. 12.The method of claim 11 and where in step (c) the second group ofarticles are moved into the selector bay at the same level as the firstgroup of articles.
 13. The method of claim 7 and wherein step (f)comprises pushing the first and second groups of articles into theadjacent carton with a pusher assembly.
 14. The method of claim 7 andwherein the articles are containers.
 15. The method of claim 14 andwherein the containers are beverage cans.
 16. In a method wherein firstgroups of articles are loaded atop second groups of articles in acarton, the improvement comprising arranging the first group of articlesin a selector bay, moving the first group of articles from the selectorbay to a staging bay, arranging the second group of articles in theselector bay at the same level that the first group of articles werearranged in the selector bay, elevating the selector bay relative to thestaging bay, moving the second group of articles into the staging bayatop the first group of articles from the elevated selector bay, andmoving the first and second groups of articles in their stackedconfiguration into a carton.
 17. The improvement of claim 16 and whereinpluralities of selector bays and staging bays are defined on endlessflights moving synchronously with and adjacent to each other and whereinthe steps of claim 20 are repeated continuously for each selector bayand staging bay pair.